Wise Dan's Latest Workout Pleases LoPresti

Trainer
Charles LoPresti was still smiling late Saturday morning, several hours
after two-time reigning Horse of the Year Wise Dan turned in a solid
five-furlong work on the main track, covering the distance in 1:01.64.

"I think he looked like the old Wise
Dan," said LoPresti. "I think he's coming the right way now; that's why I
didn't run him in the Fourstardave [on August 9]. He was a couple of
breezes short of running in that race."

LoPresti said the 7-year-old gelding is
ready for a return to the races, three months after undergoing colic
surgery, but neither he nor owner Morton Fink have decided when and
where that comeback will be.

"He's ready now; I'm just trying to fight
in my head where to run him and what's the right thing to do," said
LoPresti. "Do I run him here [in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch on August
30]? Do I run him in Canada [in the Woodbine Mile on September 14]? I
have to talk to Mr. Fink. My heart says ... I don't know what my heart
says."

Although nominated to the Grade 1 Woodward on August 30, LoPresti said that was an unlikely spot for his return.

"I don't think Mr. Fink would want to run
him in a Grade 1 on the dirt in his comeback," said LoPresti. "There's
no doubt he could run in the Bernard Baruch if that's what Mr. Fink
wants to do. We could [possibly] run in the Bernard Baruch, skip the
Woodbine Mile, and go to the Shadwell Turf Mile [on October 4 at
Keeneland Race Course]. We have another work next week. But we are going
to have to figure something out before long."